Ice-manufacturing apparatus.



G. W. VOLLMANN. ICH MANUFACTURING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED D110. 9, 1912.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

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CARL WILHELM VOLLMANN, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

ICE-MANUFACTURING APPARATUS.

Speccation oi' Letters IEatent.

Patented Mar.. 2, 1915.,

Application led December 9, 1912. Serial No. 735,794.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, CARL WILHELM VOLL- MANN,of the city of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Manufacturing Apparatus; andl do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same` This invention relates particularly to icemaking apparatus wherein a plate consisting of a plurality of tubes isimmersed in a tank of water vand a freezing medium is passed through thetubes to cause a block of ice to form around the latter'.

l'leretofore it has been the practice when vertical tubes are used inthe formation of the ice block, to bodily remove both the block and thetubes from the tank; or to pass the vertical tubes through the bottom ofthe tank and remove the block by first loosening the ice from around thetubes through the medium of a warm current passed through the latter,and then lifting the block. Horizontal tubes have also been used and theblock removed by the heating of the tubes but in this case the tubeswere covered with plates or the like to avoid the interference of thetubes to the removal of the ice block. All of these constructions arerather expensive in operation or have other defects and my invention wasconceived for the purpose of providing an improved construction whichwould overcome these defects.

rlhe object of the invention is to provide an ice forming plate which iscontained completely within the water tank, being normally fixed thereinand adapted when necessary, to be readily removed, inspected andreturned or replaced by a new plate.

For full comprehension, however, of my invention reference must be hadto the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification inwhich like reference characters indicate the same parts and wherein;

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of my improved icemanufacturing apparatus; and F ig. 2 is a transverse section of aportion thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, b indicates a tank for containing thewater to be frozen. As will be readily seen the ice forming plates, ofwhich there may be any number, are completely contained in the tank andeach consists preferably of a series of vertically disposed tubes cclosed at the top and communicating at the bottom with a header d. rlhetubes coeach inclose a smaller tube c which extends upwardly from asecond header f to a point near the top of the tube c to the interior ofwhich its upper end is open. rl`he headers d and may be formed as twodistinct members but as shown in the drawings they are in one piece andloosely supported upon blocks g on the bottom of the tank, the header dbeing connected to the inlet pipe z' leading from the freezing mediumsupply t while the header f is connected to the outlet pipe j leading tothe freezing medium return u.

As has been stated the ice plate, comprising the tubes and headers, maybe bodily removed from the tank and toprovide for this removal l haveformed flanged couplings 7c and Z, respectively inthe pipes z' and j ata point within the tank, so that when the couplings are disconnected theplate will be free to be removed from the tank because it rests looselyupon the blocks g and is not secured thereby. rl`he tubes pass through ahorizontal plate m secured to such tubes and located at a point justabove the headers while directly beneath this plate are one or morepipes n adapted to convey a current of warm gas or fluid therethroughfor a purpose to be presently pointed out. These pipes n are, in thesame manner as the pipes z' and y', coupled at a point inside the tankto supply and return pipes w and a respectively, of a warm or thawingmedium supply so that when it is necessary these pipes may also befreedto permit of the removal of the ice plate. As seen in Fig. 1 thepipes c' and j are also connected to the supply 2 and return c@ of thewarm fluid so that by means of valves s, operated inv an obvious manner,the freezing medium and the warm or thawing medium may be alternatelydirected through the tubes and the warm medium alternately supplied andcut off from the pipes n.

The operation of my improved apparatus is as follows: l/Vhen the tankhas been filled with water to the desired height that is to say coveringthe tops of the tubes, a freezing medium, such as brine or the like, ispassed from the supply t through pipe t to the header cl and so upthrough the tubes c and down the tubes e into the header f causing thewater surrounding the tubes to freeze, the freezing element passing outby the pipe j to the return u. The circulation of the freezing liquid iscontinued until an ice block is formed around the tubes to the revquired thickness, at which time the freezing the tank by a crane or thelike.

liquid is stopped and the warm current di rected through the headers andtubes in like manner as the freezing7 medium was circulated. The warmcurrentthaws the ice from around the tubes and thereby loosens the blocktherefrom and meanwhile the bottom of the ice block is loosened by meansof the pipes n which have the warm medium passing therethrough andtransmit their heat to the plate mand so the block of ice is completelyfreed' and may then be removed from By this means the ice forming plateis constantly in position so that the formation of succeeding "blocks ofice may be commenced without any considerable delay. In the event of anytubes being damaged or developing a leak the ice forming plate can bereadily removed by simply disconnecting the couplings, thus freeing theplate which can then be bodily removed and repaired or replaced by a newplate.

What I claim is as follows- 1. In an ice manufacturing apparatus, a

Ltank, a bodily removable ice forming plate contained in the tank andincluding a series of vertical tubes, a header in communication with thetubes and resting loosely at the bottom of the tank, a thawing platesup- I ported above the header, secured to said tubes and having thelatterV passed therethrough and a pipe located between the header andthe thawing plate, and means for supplying a thawing medium to saidpipe.

2. In an ice manufacturing apparatus, a tank, an ice forming platecompletely contained in the tank and adapted to be removed in an upwarddirection therefrom, such ice forming plate including a series of tubes,a header in communication with the tubes, a thawing plate supportedabove the header, secured to said tubes and having the latter passedtherethrough and a thawing pipe located between the header and thethawing plate, means for alternately circulating a freezing medium and athawing medium through such tubes and for supply ing a thawing medium tosaid pipe, such means including pipes passed through the wall of thetank to points within the tank, free of the header and thawing pipe andout of the path of removal of the ice for1n ing plate, and couplingsbetween the interior wall of the tank and the header and adapted toconnect said pipes, respectively, to the header and to the thawing pipe.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL WILHELM VOLLMANN.

Vitnesses 1 STANLEY C. KING, JAMES A. FRASER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

